Would you still LOVE me

...if I looked like this?

One BIG happy family

sorta

Times are a changin'

In a little under two weeks, we move into our new house.
In a little over two weeks, Dan starts a new job as a sprinkler fitter, working alongside our friend Gerhard.
In about two weeks, I may loose my mind.

Its a lot of change, all at once. Moving and starting a new job are both wonderful things. We are super excited that God has blessed us with a new home. We are humbled by a new job for Dan. We have been blessed.

But we are also a little stressed. Moving is hard work, especially with two little ones. Starting a new job can be stressful. We have to find health insurance, new tools, and work clothes for Dan. We've made numerous appointments (eye, dentist, chiro) in the next two weeks to cover us until we have new health coverage. Its a lot, all at once. I'm not complaining, I'm just a little overwhelmed.

If you think of us, pray for us. Pray that it will be a smooth transition for Dan. Pray that he will be able to handle a more physically demanding job and that he will be able to learn all the new skills he needs (especially on little sleep!)

Pray that Joel will adjust to these changes. He is a bit resistant to change. Even a dump truck facing the wrong way on his shelf causes him anxiety, so we can only imagine what moving to a new room/house will be like for him. And then not having Dan around in the mornings as well, will be another adjustment for him.

Pray that I won't get too overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be done in the next two weeks. Also, pray for us as we transition to a new neighbourhood. We have made a lot of friends here, and it will be hard to move away from this street and this house (after all, both my boys were born in this apartment!) I'm getting a bit emotional about that.

Pray that Micah will transition to his own room. Pray that he will sleep well and for long periods of time and that we will continue to see his happy self more and more.

Pray for us in these next two-three weeks. And praise the Lord for his bountiful provisions!

My life at this moment

Snuggly boys!

When Creativity meets Danger

...we get sausages!

Beach Days

Last weekend we went to the beach (twice!)

It was a nice time of relaxation before we hit the last two weeks of craziness before the big move.

Joel got stuck in the muck! Dan and I were watching Joel from a distance to see what he would do. We heard him cry out, "Mommy, I'm stuck. Please help me!" Super sweet little boy!

Joel loves his digger.

Dan decided to dig to hole. Said something about not knowing anyone in China, so he switched directions and headed towards the Philippines.

Micah was helping Dan but said he preferred Korea, since its a bit closer.

But they hit some mud and gave up.

 

Plus, they were a bit crabby and wanted coffee instead.

Or maybe just ice cream.

Finally

After six LONG years of sitting on the ugly thrift store/dead Grandma couches, we finally saved enough money to purchase NEW couches!!!!

We have sacrificed date nights, dinners out and fancy vacations to save a few pennies for our purchase. We have saved birthday money for YEARS for this moment.
My mom gave us the incentive to actually purchase them.
(She said, "You ain't moving that ugly brown couch with no support into your new home. If I have to babysit, I want something nice to sit on!"....or something like that, eh mom!?)
Whatever she said, we are glad that she did.
We are super happy with our new couches. Now, if only we weren't so busy packing to actually sit on them....

Watching the Rain

Joel, Asher, Micah, Iben

 Four boys watching the rain fall

Homemaking FAIL

Sometimes things go the way you plan...

Sometimes your house stinks to high heavens of some putrid chemical in Dove soap.

We melted down the slivers of soap that you have "leftover" from a bar of soap, so as not to waste them. (We do realize that you can mush it to the new bar....but that makes the new bar feel less new. And I like new soap. So we went with the melt and pour route). EPIC FAIL! The smell was atrocious. But we did get a monster mini loaf pan sized soap that works quite well. So maybe it wasn't so bad after all.

Micah's 1st Birthday

We had a BBQ at Mill Lake to celebrate Micah's first birthday.

For dessert, we had cupcakes for the kids,

and berry crisp cooked in mason jars! They were super cute and fun to eat (with ice cream!!!)

Snuggles from the birthday boy

After practising all morning, Micah refused to blow out his birthday candle. We promise he did it in the morning! But at his party, the little guy had stage fright.

The inspection

And BITE!

Yummy!

Guarding his treasured cupcake from Anaya!